Playing-ball.



' No, 727,200. a I PATBNTED MAY 5, 1903.

F. H, RIGHARDSL;

PLAYING BALL.

APPLICATION mum oo'r.1. 1902.

no MODEL.

esses I I 1Q 'ni'ar:

UNITED STATES? Patented May 5, 1903.

PATENT OFFrcE.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THEKEMPSI'IALL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ARLINGTON, NEW JERSEY, ACORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

PLAYING-B LL.

srnorrrcarrron forming ar of Letters Patent rte-727,200, dated May 5,1903.

Application filed October 1, 1902.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of 1Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPlaying-Balls, of which the following is a specification.

This invention, relating to playing-balls, and especially to thoseadapted for the purposes of golf, has for its object to provide astructure whereby increased efficiency is obtained at a reduced cost ofmanufacture.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 illustratesa ball partially broken away to show its components. Fig. 2 shows astrip of stock from which a spring is shaped or bowed, and Fig. 3illustrates the method of building up the interior of the ball.

In the various figures like parts are designated by similar charactersof reference.

The interior of the ball, as shown, preferably comprises a hard centerpiece A, which may be formed either of a solid body of pla'stic orfibrous material or it may compriseafl metal or steel shell. Thiscentral body A is inclosed in a shell of suitable material 13- such, forinstance, as celluloid. This part of the ball may be formed, if desired,in the manner illustrated in the patent granted to me October 14, 1902,No. 711,228. Upon the structure thus formed I build up a layer C of highresilience, preferably, as shown, by winding on the center piece Astrips Z, Fig. 3, of either sulfur-cured rubber or acid-cured dentaldam, the latter being preferred principally because it is acid-cured andpractically free from foreign mixture, which would impair itselasticity, and also because it can be drawn taut without liability torupture and is not liable to become out. I preferably employ thismaterial from one-half to three- "ball under high compression.

- from one-fourth to one-half of an inch, as at Serial no. 125,523. (Nomodel.)

.2, Fig. 3, and its thinness in due proportion. A further advantage ofthe dental dam is its lightness, whereby the weight of other'parts tuneball may be to some extent compen- 5o sated. Simultaneously with windingthe rubber strips I insert in miscellaneous directions short lengths oftern pered-steel wire,which are preferably flat or oblong incross-section, as illustrated, and which are bent or curved to formsprings D, and these are placed flatwise upon the ball during thewinding operation. These springs D are formed unto varioussizedhemispherioally-curved members and are of such sizes as to permit themto be sprung onto the spherical structure F at each winding, (see Fig.3,) thereby makinga tension in the wire, whereby each member tendsconstantly to recover its normal condition, so that every member is in astate of high initial tension. Moreover, since the rubber is wound-uponthe ball under great tension it holds the inclosed central portion ofthe The structure hence comprises a sphere which is bound 7o tightlywithin windings of highly-tensioned sheet-rubber holding under tension aplurality of individual springs, said springs being highlytensioned bythe bending, so that a ball of phenomenal energy is produced. Therelative'arrangement shown and described is not essential in all cases,so long as windings of rubber alternate with the insertion of springs,as'variations in windings of wire and rubber maybe resorted to. It willbe seen that thew'ire springs are of diiferent diameters and inserted indifierent directions and also that each spring is bound tightly by thehighly tensioned rubber, whereby the spring action is considerablymodified, the same being rendered far more resisting than would be thecaseif. the spring were not restrained by the rubber. The effect ofoverwinding a spring in this manner is to render it extremely stiff, sothat a light 0 blow from a club upon a ball fails to flex the wire tosuch an extent as to render the ball unduly active. The outer layer ofwindings of rubber confining a series of distorted springs holds allwithin a powerful grip, so that the tendency upon the part of all of themembers is to preserve a spherical form. When the ball is given a hardblow with a club, the springs directly affected by the club are flexed,while the ball as a whole is changed from its spherical form, thischange beinginstantly resisted by the springy spherical core F, which isconfined under great tension by the windings of rubber and said springs,so that the ball has phenomenal flying power. It will also be seen thateach spring is packed or embedded within the rubber, so as to form aperfectly-acting resilient member which can Withstand considerabledeformation under a blow and recover its form completely and instantly.Upon the filling thus formed I provide a shell 5, of wear resistingmaterial, preferably guttapercha, and preferably holding said fillingunder a high degree of compression. Since the springs and rubber arevery effective in maintaining the spherical form of the filling, theshell, although in a tense condition thereon, is not subjected to undueadditional strain by reason of the change of the filling from its normalspherical form under a blow, so that liability of the shell to burstunder a heavy blow is minimized. It will also be understood that thelayer, which is formed of springs and windings of rubber and which isdesignated as O, furnishes a peculiar local resiliency under the actionof a blow and makes a very effective distribution of the force of theblow throughout a large portion of the ball.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a playing-ball, thecombination with a core, of windings thereon of tensioned rubberalternating with bowed individual members of resilient material, and acover upon said windings. I 2. A playing-ball comprising a sphere and acover thereon; said sphere consisting at least partially of windings oftensioned rubber mixed promiscuously with bowed individual members ofresilient material.

3. A playing-ball comprising a sphere of hard material, windings thereonof tensioned rubber mixed with wire springs, and a cover.

4:. A playing-ball comprising a sphere and a cover; said spherecomprising layers of soft rubber and wire springs inserted therebetween.

5. A playing-ball comprising a metallic sphere, windings thereon oftensioned rubber, bowed individual springs promiscuously insertedtherebetween, and a cover.

6. A playing-ball comprising a core, windin gs thereon of tensionedrubber,steel springs held in confinement thereby, and a cover.

'7. A playing-ball comprising a sphere and a cover thereon, said sphereconsisting at least partially of windings of rubber in which areinserted a number of bowed individual springs.

8. A playing-ball comprising a sphere of steel, windings thereon oftensioned rubber mixed with tempered springs, and a hard cover formed ofplastic material.

9. A playing ball comprising a hollow sphere of steel, a plastic shellthereon, a soft layer inclosing said shell and throughout which arepromiscuously embedded a plurality of tempered springs in a tensecondition, and a cover formed of plastic material and holding saidsphere under compression.

10. A playing-ball at least a portion whereof consists of a strip oftensioned rubber wound in miscellaneous directions, and within whichwindings are a series of bowed individual springs.

11. A playing-ball at least a portion whereof consists of a plurality oftempered-steel springs held in a tense condition by windings oftensioned approximately pure rubber strips, said springs and said stripsbeing applied in miscellaneous directions.

12. A playing-ball at least a portion whereof consists of tempered-steelsprings held in a tense condition by windings of tensioned approximatelypure rubber strips; said wire and said strips being applied inmiscellaneous directions; and a hard sphere within said windings.

13. A playing-ball at least a portion whereof consists of tempered-steelsprings held in a tense condition by windings of tensioned approximatelypure rubber strips; said wire and said strips being applied inmiscellaneous directions; and a steel shell within said windings.

14. A playing-ball at least a portion whereof consists of tempered-steelsprings held in a tense condition by windings of tensioned approximatelypure rubber strips; said wire and said strips beingapplied inmiscellaneous directions; a metal sphere within said windings; and ashell of gutta-percha holding said windings under compression.

15. A playing-ball at least a portion where of consists of a sphericalbody of resilient material, a layer of celluloid thereon and a softelastic layer, throughout which are interspersed springs of temperedwire.

16. A playing ball comprising acenter piece, a layer thereon, and athick spherical body of soft rubber, throughout which are interspersedtempered springs.

17. A playing ball comprising a center piece, a celluloid shell thereon,and a thick spherical body of tense soft rubber, throughout which areinterspersed tempered-steel springs in a tense condition; said bodybeing held under compression by a gutta-percha cover.

18. A playing-ball whereof at least a portion consists of flat temperedsprings interof plastic material thereon, a hard shell and spersed withwindings of tensioned-rubber a soft springy layer interspersed withbowed :0 strips. individual springs.

19. A playing-ball having a hard shell and 5 a core, and a layer betweensaid shell and FRANCIS RICHARDS core; said layer consisting of aplurality of Witnesses: tempered springs mingling with rubber. F. W.BARNACLO,

20. A playing-ball having a core, a layerl JOHN O. SEIFERT.

